Course Introduction:

        

 I. COURSE ORIENTATION

A. Introduction to course; general overview of curriculum

B. Overview of course requirements, including texts and assignments

 

Course Description:

This course will enable students to engage in critical analyses of culture in relation to class, ethnicity and gender. They will also gain insights into power structures, identity politics and hegemony on the one hand, and consumerism, agency and subcultural practices on the other

This Introduction to Cultural Studies will be relevant to students interested in popular culture and the cultures of everyday life. The course will focus on key thinkers in Cultural Studies as well as the ways identities are constructed and maintained through everyday practices and engagement with material culture.

 

Course Objectives: After completing this course, students will be able to:

·       demonstrate their performance in critical analyses of culture in relation to class, ethnicity and gender.

·       identify and explain power structures, identity politics and hegemony on the one hand, and consumerism, agency and subcultural practices on the other.

 

 

Course Learning Outcomes:

 

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Identify key theorists and terms in Cultural Studies

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of key texts and topics related to Cultural Studies

3. Use written and oral skills to apply an academic argument

4. Demonstrate an awareness of critical skills required to read a range of texts

5. Apply research skills to source materials for class presentations and assessment tasks

 

 

Learning & Teaching Modes

 

This course is structured around a weekly lecture followed by a tutorial. The tutorials are designed to add reflection, discussion and ideas based on the lecture material. The weekly readings will be dealt with critically in class, and students will be expected to participate in small group discussion as well as present individually prepared material to the whole class.

 

Course Content:

 

·       Theory & Analysis of Culture

·       Social Structure and Culture

·       Contemporary Cultures and Their Historical Foundations

·       Culture, Class, Ethnicity and Gender

·       Culture, Language and Power

·       Production, Reception and Consumption

·       Resistance, Negotiations and Reformation

·       Power Structure and Hegemony

·       Politics of Culture, Discourse and Identity

·       Consumerism and Agency

·       Subculture, Popular Culture and Multiculturalism

·       Cultural Interferences, Hybridity, Authenticity and Acculturation

·       Representation

 

Critical Texts:

·       Stuart Hall: “Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms” and “Race, Culture, and Communications: Looking Backward and Forward at Cultural Studies”  

·       Richard Johnson: “What Is Cultural Studies Anyway?” and “Post-Hegemony? I Don’t Think So”

·       Paul Smith: “Looking Backwards and Forwards at Cultural Studies”

·       Scott Lash: “Power after Hegemony: Cultural Studies in Mutation?”

·       Walter Benjamin: “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”